Mr Eric Kwakye Dafour, Minister-designate for Eastern region has stated that he would harness the human and material resources of the region for development.
He said the region had been blessed with a lot of tourist sites that would be developed to generate revenue and jobs for the people in the area.
Mr Eric Kwakye Dafour made the statement when he appeared before the Parliament’s Appointments Committee as the President’s ministerial nominee for the Eastern region.
The Eastern region is one of the places that have heterogeneous groups made up of different ethnic groups including the Akyem, Akwapem, Krobos, Guans, Kwahu among others.
Mr Kwakye Dafour, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkawkaw stressed the need for concerted effort to tackle the issue of illegal mining which he said was pervasive and destroying water bodies in the region.
He said if approved by the house he would consult various stakeholders including the chiefs, opinion leaders among others to curb the galamsey menace, which was affecting cocoa farming and other food crops.
He said some of the lands that should have been used for farming are now being sold to illegal miners.
Mr Kwakye Dafour also promised to continue with the new Eastern Region University initiated by the National Democratic Congress administration.
He pledged to ensure that the plan for the new €45 million university with its campuses in Somanya and Afram Plains would be followed to its logical conclusion.
He said contrary to claims that the Eastern region was prone to a lot of chieftaincy and land litigations, the region was peaceful.
Mr Kwakye Dafour further pledged to ensure that the issue of Fulani herdsmen clashing with farmers over the destruction of their crops by cattle would be addressed.
Mr Ishmael Ashitey, the Minister-Designate for Greater Accra region also appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament said his vision for the region was to tackle sanitation, which he intimated was a major problem in the region.
He said in the Accra Metropolitan area alone 3,000 tonnes of rubbish was generated per day but only 2,500 tonnes were collected leaving 500 tonnes of uncollected rubbish in the city.
Mr Ashitey, who is also the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP said he was going to operate an open door policy and prepared to work with everybody no matter the person’s political affiliation.
He said he would work to ensure that opposition MPs were not frustrated but given their share of the Common fund by the district assemblies on time.
Mr Asitey pledged to continue the street naming projects initiated by the NDC government and debunked claims that he was behind the confusion with respect to the selection of people for the position of MMDCE in the Greater Accra.
He said the NPP in the Greater Accra was peaceful and that any claim by people that he was selecting his favourites for the position of the MMDCE was not true.
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